The present disclosure is generally related to a method of manufacture of a composite laminate, an apparatus therefor, and related articles.
Porous composite laminates are of interest in the aviation industry for their utility in noise reduction applications. The composite laminates comprise multiple layers of fiber reinforced resin that are cured to form a self-supporting structure. The laminates contain many through-holes for damping noise vibrations.
Typically, the through-holes are created by drilling the composite laminate after assembling and curing the layers. This method is costly and time-consuming because the holes can number up to a million. Other methods involve puncturing; for example, by forcing a pinmat into a partially cured stack of fiber reinforced resin sheets, or forcing each sheet onto a pinmat during assembly of the stacked structure. This method has the drawback of potentially fracturing the reinforcing fibers as the pins puncture the sheet, reducing mechanical strength of the cured structure. Another method involves lasing holes through a cured structure. This requires high energy lasers.
Less costly and more efficient methods of producing composite laminates having a plurality of through-holes are desirable in overcoming these drawbacks.